Method of dyeing yarn and the like.



W. A. AINSWUITHt METHOD 0F DYElNG YARN AND THE LIKE.

APPLlcATEoN FILED 1M/10,1918.

WILLIAM A. AINSWORTH, OF GRAN'D RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

METHOD OF DYEING YARN ANI) THE LIKE.`

Maasai.

Spec'ication of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 8, 1919.

Original application tiled .Tuly 16, 1917, Serial No. 180,805. Divided and this application led May 10, 1918.

Serial No. 233,647.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. AINS- woRTH, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county Aot Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Dyeing Yarn and the like; and do `hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and eXact` descriptionv of the' invention, 'such as will enable others skilled in the lart to which it Vappertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a method of dyeing yarns or similar materials such as are used in the manufacture of knitted fabrics.

It is desirable at times that yarn, thread, or other like material of fibrous nature used in the manufacture of knitted fabrics may be dyed, stained, or colored either in intermittent or continuous'lengths, and particularly in intermittent lengths, whereby the fabric produced from said yarn has a variegatedl appearance; and it is a primary object and :purpose of my invention to secure this coloring, dyeing or staining througha simple and expeditious method of dyeing without the 'considerablehandling waste and shrinkage of the material which has occurred with methods of dyeing'heretofore used for the productionl of said variegated yarns'or the like.

For an understanding of the invention and one way in which the methodmlay be carried out, reference may Ibe had to the accompany.- -ing drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in sec-A tion, showing essential parts ofa machine by means of which my method may be accomplished.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective View,

' with parts broken Iaway and shown In secparts in the different views'of the drawing.

same being carried by a vertical spindle 4 which may be driven in'any suitable manner,

as by a pulley 5 attached to the. spindle around which a belt 6 may pass. The yarn or other material 1, preferably, passes over a pinv y7 andthrough a guiding eye 8 fastened to'a block or nut 9, which is threaded on, a screw-threaded spindle l() the same being adapted to be driven by any suitable mechanism, thereby guiding the yarn orlike material up and down the length ofthe cone 3. The mechanism for driving the spindles 4 and 10 is of no importance in the ypresent invention and the way that the spindle and shaft 10 automatically reverse at .predetermined intervals is not shown or described, it being-no essential part ofthe present-invention.

A tank or container 11 is mounted hori-` zontally above a suitable support 12 at a 'point betweenthe cones 2 and 3, and contains a quantity of liquid dye, stain, or similar coloring matter. A shaft 14: extends lengthwise of and within the container 11 on which, at spaced apart intervals, disks 15 are Xed, around which cylindrical rings or Wicks 16 of absorbent material are secured. The containerA is slotted at a plurality of spaced apart intervals in its `upper side, -as indicated Iat 17, whereby the wick formed by said ring of absorbent material 16 comes at its u'pper portion above the ends of its associated slot. It is understood that for each of thel wicks 16 a' thread of the material 1 wound on the cone 2 may pass toa cone 3, the number of cones in alinement being immaterial. The shaft 14 may be continuously operated in. any suitable manner, as by a pulley 18 secured to one end, around which a driving belt 19 may pass.

The yarn or like material 1 is carried through` any suitable tension device 20 mounted on a bracket 21 at one side of a slot 17, and thence directly across the container 11 and through said slot 17 and under a pin 22 which may be mounted on a bracket 23 fixed to the support 12, thence leading over the pin 7 previously described. Nor? -mally the yarn is carried so as to be clear of the wick 16.

Suitable supports24 are secured at each end of the container 1 serving to rotatably carry a shaft 25 which parallels said container and under which` the yarn or other material 1 passes. At a plurality of spaced apart intervals in the length of the shaft 25, cams 26 are fixed, one in alinement with each slot 17, the same being elongated and of the shape shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, and having opposed edges 26a which on rotation of the shaft bear against the yarn or like ymaterialand, press it into contact engagement with its associated wick 16. This cam ofcourse may be variously formed, but in the resent instance, with every revolution tllie shaft 25, said material 1 is pressed twice into contact engagement with a wick 16 receiving coloring matter during such contacts, and being free of the wick during the momentary periodl when lthe member 26 lies substantially horizontal as shown 1n Fig. 3. The rotation of the shaft 25 may be accomplished. through a driving pulley 27 secured at one end which may be driven by a belt 28. The belts 19 and 28 may be driven from any suitable source ,of power,

-either the same or separate devices, or in fact the same could be turned by hand if desired.

In operationthe rotation of the spindle causes a winding of the thread, yarn, vor like material 1 onto the cone 3, drawing and unwinding the same from the cone-f2 and drawing it over'the wick 16. As it passes underneath the member 26 with the shaft rotating it is `depressed into contact with a wick 16 whereby dye or similar coloring ma#l terial is applied until the vpressure of an` edge 268L is removed, the` yarn or thread being then released to move over and above the wick 16 until again depressed by the succeeding edge 26a. This action causes the yarn or thread to be dyed, stained or colored in intermittent lengths, with other lengths vof uncolored yarn or thread between that My invention, accordingly, is not limited in' any respect to any single type of machine for accomplishing the method, but comprehends any-way of accomplishing the method defined inthe claims irrespective of the particular-mechanism used.

I claim:

' 1. The method of. dyeing yarn or similar fibrous material which consists in passing the material in a continuous length from v one point to another, and in 'intermittently wipingthe same against colorlng matter between said points as it passes, substantially as described.

y 2. rI`he method of dyeing yarn or similar fibrous material which consists in providing a member saturated with coloring matter, then rapidly passing said material in a conf tinuous length by said member and normally separated a short distance therefrom,

' and in intermittently pressing said material into wiping engagement with said member as it passes by the same. l

In testimony whereof I afix my signature.

` WILLIAM A. AINswoR'rH. 

